The Heir of Depths
12

It was so early in the morning the sky was still dark. Her new set of clothes was waiting for her on the other side of the room. She had to exchange the gowns for a proper set of clothes that allowed her to blend in within the sailing crew.

She looked surprised when she opened the door and saw Larsin waiting for her on the door frame “Well good morning beautiful” he looked at her up and down “That looks more like you”.

“Good morning to you too” she rubbed her eyes “What are you doing here?” she sounded just a bit surprised.

“Did you really believed I was not going to say goodbye?” The prince rolled his eyes when she seemed confused.

Larsin couldn’t keep himself from Arline and decided to grab her face and kiss her soft lips, making a slight blush appear on her cheeks thanks to the unexpected greeting. “I won’t be able to do it downstairs” he pointed out to her. He was right. Merrick was waiting for her downstairs, with two backpacks, filled with what she assumed were essentials for the trip.

“Good morning” the Crown Prince greeted them.

“Good morning” they responded in unison. “Ready?” he looked at Arline.

“Ready Captain” she said and grabbed the backpack.

“You will do amazing” he said smiling at her with his characteristic smile.

They headed to the docks, towards a massive ship which was awaiting for the crew. They were the first ones there. Merrick thought it gave an image of responsibility with the rest of the sailors.

Merrick and Arline stepped a foot aboard the ship after dismissing Larsin, who went straight to the barricades to start training for the day.

“You will stay on my cabin” Merrick said while guiding her up the stairs.

“Really? I thought-”

“I would trust them with my ship, not with you. If something happens to you because of my desire to prove something, I won’t be able to live with myself Arline” he said.

She didn’t fight him. She couldn’t dare to because she understood what he meant and appreciated he cared for her even in that way. Merrick could be a very likable person despite how intimidating he presented himself as.

His cabin was one of a Captain and a Prince. He made sure of it. She was stunned and admiring the place the draped curtains and the totems that were exhibited on the walls, but he was more interested in the maps on his desks.

“Now we just wait for the rest” he had a sweet and raspy tone on his voice. But he had a serious temple as he scanned the route displayed on the maps.

“I feel smaller than usual” she sat on one of the couches.

Merrick smiled and started looking at her. More so, analyzing her. Her body language and her expressions, trying to see something out of place with her. “Have you felt anything out of the ordinary?” Merrick inquired.

“I’ve been shivering a lot lately” Arline responded focusing her stare on the details of the table. Despite liking Merrick a lot, him staring at her still intimidated her, not to mention she still felt a little embarrassed about the whole water demon situation.

“All normal” he stood up “You will be in direct contact with your element, everything you feel will be amplified ” he warned her.

She nodded. They spent some time drinking coffee to wake themselves up and before they sailed, they both went outside to meet the crew. Zeroun was already there. When Arline approached behind the Captain, muttering started circling around deck. He lifted his right hand, ordering silence. Everyone went quiet, she thought even the wind stopped going around the sails.

“She is the reason for this voyage, gentlemen” he began “And I have to tell you, she is my guest, meaning she is under my and the Crown’s protection” He waited for someone to stop or interrupt him but no one dared to talk back “I trust all of you will make her part of the crew, she is not as fragile as she looks. But if anyone steps a foot out of line, your head will hang from the spear” he signaled it “You have my word” No one questioned him so he continued his speech, noting the dangers of the mission. Finally, she got to meet the sailors, one by one, with Zeroun guarding her side.

The ship was already being directed to wherever destination Merrick ordered, she didn’t have a clue where could it be. But began working like the rest of the crew, sweating a lot and to the point of getting small and harmless callouses for handing the ropes. Merrick took a glance at her every chance he got, making sure everything was in order.

“I don’t do well at sea” Merrick mocked Arline like a little kid, something very improper of the Prince, when she came by his side.

“This is a good day, don’t get your hopes up” she said smiling, knowing exactly what he meant.

Nothing peculiar had happened after a few days on sea except for Arline really enjoying the trip, and replaceing herself very involved within the crew. They let her eat with them and even allowed her to listen to some of the shanties that were sang right after dinner and a few drops of alcohol.

One night, she was sneaking back inside Merrick’s cabin. Arline thought he was going to be asleep but found him at his desk, not looking at the maps nor documents, but instead playing with something inside a bag.

“I’m sorry” she instantly said, thinking that she might have woken him up.

“Don’t be” Merrick immediately shifted his focus to her.

“What’s that?” she found herself curious and approached him slowly.

“The bag of pearls the mermaids left behind after they attacked you in the cave” she looked confused “He didn’t tell you, did he?” she shook her head “I’m not surprised considering it’s almost as if they had branded you with hot iron”.

“How?” she approached the bag but didn’t touch the pearls as if she was scared that if she did, the mermaids could come back and take her away.

“Allegedly, water guardians are branded by the messengers of Pelagius” he explained “But considering the legends about water change every time, I don’t know what to believe” Merrick then rubbed his face, trying to shake the tiredness off his body.

Pelagius was one of the six main deities which controlled the principal elements of the Earth, in his case it was water. Pelagius alongside Hazavana (deity of light) and Orka (deity of energy) were put in hibernation regarding the threats they presented to the population in general. The guardians of this elements were considered valuable because they weren’t born with a gift. On the other hand, were selected specifically based on future attributes they might have and if they didn’t fulfill them, they died for the excess of power.

“Where is Pelagius now? Every legend mentions were the Deities are resting” she asked, remembering what she got to read back on the kingdom.

“I don’t know” it was weird hearing him say that “Every book mentions somewhere different, but be sure it is a cave in the depths of the water”

“I should read more about that” she was resting her chin on her hand, looking at the moldy brown bag.

“I think you have done a fair amount of research” he put a cup of tea in front of her which she thanked him “I know by the way” he suddenly mentioned.

“What?” she didn’t know what he was referring to but got alarmed.

“He kissed you, didn’t he?” Merrick almost sounded disappointed, but Arline couldn’t tell if he was disappointed on her or his brother.

“How could you possibly know that?” Her vision shifted to the mug on her hands. All of a sudden, the waves forming on the tea became very interesting.

“I know my brother, I might not like him but I know him” he coldly said “Don’t put all of your trust in him, he is not a saint”

“He said almost an identical thing to me” she almost whispered as if she didn’t want him to listen.

“I’m not surprised he did, Arline” he was getting closer to her. His tone didn’t suggest he was angry with her.

“Why do you two hate each other so much?” she’s been dying to ask this question since they first met in the woods “Don’t think I haven’t noticed”.

Arline knew better than anybody that it was normal for siblings to fight, disagree, even hate each other for a while. But she’s never seen a feud like this between brothers. They didn’t miss the chance to ridicule, hurt or insult each other. Actually, Arline thought they could be a very powerful duo if they just cooperated to get along.

“He is privileged enough to be the best of the kingdom and he chooses to spend his time wasting his potential” he told her, not feeling sorry for calling out his brother’s laziness “Not only that, he earns the trust of people and then chooses to betray them for something as low as power”

“You want power” she fired back. Arline wasn’t trying to defend Larsin but she did want to know why Merrick despised him so much. At the end of the day, he was the one person that knew Merrick extremely well.

“I get power by my own hand not by scamming or betraying, there is a difference” They weren’t arguing, just calmly talking. But she felt there was something else Merrick wanted to warn her about, that he wasn’t saying.

“You have more chances of staying alive with me than with him, Arline” he said after a few minutes of silence.

“What does that mean?” She was perplexed as to why he implied she could potentially die in any moment if she chose the person that had saved her from the very beginning.

“That if the moment comes for you to pick a side, I won’t stab you on your back”

Arline liked Larsin but even she could notice how arrogant he sometimes was regarding his abilities, not to mention Merrick was more powerful, despite not knowing his gift. That would be something she had to ask him about.